Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 27, 2021 Colleen Chi-Girl rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary, feminism, education-teaching, women-centered, audiobooks, england, 2021, reese-bkclub, india

3-1/2 🌟 I read this on Libby audio and really enjoyed the narrator.

It behind with Nikki, a young Indian woman, who lives and works in London. She drops out of law school after her father dies and now tends bar. Nikki decides to teach a creative writing class in her community of Punjabi women to help support her now-widowed mother.

Nikki is basically setup as the instructor because the women who signup for her class can’t actually read or write their own names. This begins to show us the huge di ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2018 Ra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scribd, favorites, audio-book

This is a very entertaining story that touches on myriad themes of tradition, community and belonging in an East meet West setting. The main protagonist is Nikki a modern woman of Punjabi heritage who is trying to navigate out of a rut in her emotional and professional life. Nikki is rebellious against parental authority and traditional Indian values, and is the polar opposite of her sister Mindy who is looking to meet someone of her own culture for a traditional arranged marriage that wins fami This is a very entertaining story that touches on myriad themes of tradition, community and belonging in an East meet West setting. The main protagonist is Nikki a modern woman of Punjabi heritage who is trying to navigate out of a rut in her emotional and professional life. Nikki is rebellious against parental authority and traditional Indian values, and is the polar opposite of her sister Mindy who is looking to meet someone of her own culture for a traditional arranged marriage that wins familial approval.

The drama starts when Mindy asks Nikki to post an ad for her on the marriage board in the Sikh temple at South-hall in London which I learned was where the Indian community of London was largely concentrated, and where they can lead their own insular lives surrounded by all the trappings of their native culture. While posting the flyer of Mindy's information on the notice board, Nikki is attracted by an ad looking for an instructor for a course of creative writing for women in the temple. She applies and lands the job. Her creative excitement is seriously dampened when faced at her first class with mostly elderly widows who could hardly write their names in their native language let alone form coherent sentences in English. Nikki resigns herself to teaching the widows their abc's when one of the more literate ones in the group discovers a book of erotic stories the bookish Nikki bought second hand as a joke for her traditionally minded sister. The women then decided that they prefer telling their own daring stories to writing boring letters in exercise books.

In their isolated state as widows and older women, these ladies show Nikki their rich imaginative life, and spin exciting stories on various aspects of sexual pleasure. In a society that considers the enjoyment of sexual pleasure inappropriate at best, and a sin at worst, this creates considerable conflict and tension, least of all in the need for keeping these classes, and and the script of the stories secret. As the course and the stories become popular, there are unexpected consequences.

For Nikki, her closeness to the widows, opens her up to exploring her identity, and how she relates to her Sikh heritage. It also brings her close to learning about the tragic fate of other women who became victims to the conflict between traditional values and modern freedoms. The complicity of society in their deaths, and the attitude of blaming the victim are briefly touched upon, and there is a resolution for one of these tragic deaths.

Despite its dealing with some social aspects, the book does so very lightly, and it is mostly a fun and lighthearted feel-good read. It highlights the importance of community, human connection, love and pleasure at any age and in any culture. It also stresses the value of finding your own way in life, choosing the aspects of tradition that speak to you and leaving out those that do not resonate.

I listened to the audiobook version and I liked the narrator who lent her voice and accent to the Indian characters. I found her mostly authentic. Her breathy reading of the racy parts was somewhat strange but I guess a neutral and wooden delivery would have sounded unnatural. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2019 Jana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, x2019-reading-challenge

I really enjoyed this book. I read it for my book club, and I anticipate that we will have lots of different things to discuss. But, for some odd reason, I totally did not expect there would actually be erotic stories in the book. Silly me.

1 like · Like · see review